Los Angeles daily herald., 1887-12-14
D,CKERSONS DEATH.
Authentic Account of How
it Occurred.
THE SCENE LAID IN SINALOA
An Alteration at the Mines-The
Tragedy-The Decea' eds For
mer ii tory.

On the DIST of October the local
columns of the HERALD contained the
only account published Of the murder
of John M. Dickerson in Mexico
some ten days previous. Saturday
evenings issue of the Express con-
tains an article in which the murder
is alluded to as alleged" and de-
nying in substance the facts OF the
case as they appeared in this paper.
The reporter who wrote the article in
the HERALD yesterday afternoon de-
termine1 to probe the matter to the
bottom, and the following is the result
OF his Investigations:
In spite vi the statement which
appears in the Express that no
such person as Mrs. Dickerson
appears in II Los Angeles city direct
ory," the scrib referred to Maxwell's
Directory and on p,ge 1877 found the
following entry: "Dickerson, j. NJ. !;
residen e. nor h side Washing on be.
tween Cherry and Oak" 30, board
ing two-horse car, he soon found
himself at hi. objective point. On
making known his mission he was at
once ushered into drawing room in
viii h sat Mrs.. Diekrrson and menu
bers vi her family, all in deep mourn
ing.
"Oh, you are reporter" said Mrs.
Dickinson, after the HERALD man
had introduced himself, "and l sup
pose YOU have come to see me about
that article in The Express 1t was
quite a surprise to me when 1 read
that my presence in the city was moi
recognized. | have been living here
for the past twelve months. AS re.
CARDS the denial of my husban e
murder, the best way that / can
exl lain matters il to make a brief
statement: There are a few discrep
arcies in the account already pub
lished of Mr.. Dickerson's death, hut
they are doubtless due to the fact that
when you made your former inquiries
the information in our possession was
very meagse, consisting only of the
telegram announcing his death, and
conjectures, based upon his habits and
the location and cir utnstances exist
ing at the time of his demise. lam
nov in possession OF fuller particulars
relating to the sad event. and it ap-
pears that he was not waylaid and de-
liberately murdered, as was at the
time surnised. AS you have already
made public, he went from here at
the end OF September. to take charge
of his mining interests in Sin
aloa. He arrived at the scene
of operations, ut Guajalotis,
100 miles from Culiacan in the earl,
part OF o. toher and at once proceeded
to superiatend the placing OF machin
cry which had heen forwarded from
San Francisco. On the 9Th OF October
while the MeXicans were at work, an
altercation took place among them
and during this my husband wa
shot. whether accidentally or not, we
cannot determine. He fingered until
the 10th. when he died and was subse
quently buried near the scene of his
death. do not therefore h id the
Mexican government responsible, as !
caunot tt,iuk that pr. judce
against him as an American
had anything to do with the shooting
but the fact undoubtedly exists thai
he was shot and killed down there, in
spite of any statements that may b,
made to the contrary"
"Was Mr.. Dickerson a native OF
California queried the reporter.
"No; he WAS born in Rock county,
Illinois, in 1915; came to California in
1872. and subsequently, become en-
gagged in business at Woodland. L.
1874 he went with his family to South
Ane'ica where he established Il mer
camille business. which is still oper
ating in his ndm-. He entered with
great zeSt into mining ventures, and
at the time of his death owned two
mines, one in Durang and the other
(where he was killeD in Sinalod
AS regar Is his family, myself and
four chill iren have been living here
as have stated, for the past year,
and my other daughter, who has been
educated in Germany, will orly
join us. On Thursday next [ start 10
Mexico AMI South America to see after
my husbands business, as there are
very heavy financial interests to attend
to. And now think have told you
the whole story" conclu led Mrs
Dickerson plea-antly, "anl | tust
that there will not he any further mis-
understa ding- about the matter"
Thanking his informant for her
courtesy and the hosp tality with
he had been received, the reporter
bowed his exit, and was soon speed-